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Jake took a deep breath and stepped closer to the body, determined to focus on the task at hand rather than letting himself be overwhelmed by emotion.
“Have you found anything of note?” Fiona asked inquisitively. She barely seemed fazed by the body before them. Jake had seen his fair share, but this was a very gruesome death. He’d never seen someone so swollen and puffy.
And yet Fiona showed no sign of fear, and barely any discomfort.
“Well, aside from the fact that he was mauled by giant, foreign bees?” the coroner said. “Honestly, not much. All I can say is, his death was probably pretty painful, but at least it would have been quick.”
Fiona nodded, her expression thoughtful as she studied the body. She pointed to a few of the welts on his arm and said, “It definitely seems like these all occurred at the same time. He was found in a chair in his bathroom, so someone must have ambushed with the swarm.” She sighed and shook her head, and Jake listened intently, fascinated, because insects were Fiona’s area of expertise, and he was sure she’d have a lot to say about this. “It just doesn’t make sense why the person chose Asian giant hornets,” she said. “They are obviously not endemic to North America, and moreover, they’re difficult to get your hands on.”
“So do you think we might be looking for some sort of exotic pet keeper?” Jake jumped in.
“Yes, or someone else with a keen interest in insects.”
“I think we should consider all the possibilities,” Jake suggested. “We can’t rule out anything at this point. Narrowing down the motive would help, but as we know, the senator had a long list of potential enemies.”
The coroner stepped back and raised his hands. “Honestly, I don’t envy you folks on this one. The poor guy was infamously hated. Hell, I had some issues with him too, but no one deserves to end up like this.”
“Definitely not,” Jake agreed.
But where could they go next? Jake was sure it’d be easier to follow the exotic animal and insect lead, rather than go through the senator’s long list of enemies. Chief Whittaker had been right—Fiona would be very useful on this case, as this was her realm.
“Any ideas where we should start, Fiona?” Jake asked her.
“I do have some,” Fiona said, “but first, I’d like to perform a thorough examination of the body, with Mr. Wilcox’s help here.”
Jake nodded, his stomach slightly sick. They didn’t need him for this part. “Right,” he said, “well, I can wait outside and think of some other leads.”
Fiona was already snapping gloves on and sliding on a lab coat, offered to her by Robert. “Yes, this won’t take long.”
In that moment, Jake felt like he was the outsider and Fiona was the one running the show. This job was much better suited for her, so he stepped out of the room, grateful to be away from the stagnant smell.
But Fiona—she dove right into it.
***
Fiona looked down at the body of the senator, swollen and covered with puss. This was a tragic death that no man deserved to experience, no matter how they lived their life.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Fiona said to the coroner, and he nodded, letting her take the lead on examining the body.
She began by observing the wounds on the senator’s body, noting their location and severity. She also took note of any defensive wounds or signs of struggle, but there were none. It appeared that the senator was caught off guard and had no time to react before the hornets attacked him. Fiona was no stranger to insect stings, but she couldn’t imagine the pain that the senator must have gone through.
“What’s our running theory?” the coroner asked. “Any chance he just got unlucky?”
“No, he was very allergic to bees,” Fiona said, “and these aren’t just any regular bees. These are Asian giant hornets, very rare to find here in the United States. Even someone who is not allergic could suffer a terrible death from these.”
The coroner nodded, understanding Fiona’s point. “So, what do you think was the motive behind this?” he asked.
Fiona paused, thinking for a moment. “It’s hard to say for sure at this point, but I think it’s possible that the killer had a fascination with insects, specifically these Asian giant hornets. It’s not easy to come by them, and the fact that the killer used them as a weapon suggests that they had knowledge about them.”
The coroner raised an eyebrow. “You think this could be some sort of revenge killing?”
“It’s possible,” Fiona said. “The senator was quite a controversial figure.”
The coroner nodded, absorbing the information. “So, the killer knew about his allergy and deliberately chose these hornets to kill him.”
“Exactly,” Fiona confirmed. “This was a premeditated attack, and the killer had access to these hornets.”
The coroner raised his eyebrows. “Not easy to come by, I assume?”
